Low wages, long hours for iPod factory workers

[Bellamy]

Monday - June 12, 2006

Inside Apple's iPod factories

 

Apple's iPods are made by mainly female workers who earn as little as £27 per month, according to a report in the Mail on Sunday yesterday.

 

The report, 'iPod City', isn't available online. It offers photographs taken from inside the factories that make Apple music players, situated in China and owned by Foxconn.

 

The Mail visited some of these factories and spoke with staff there. It reports that Foxconn's Longhua plant houses 200,000 workers, remarking: "This iPod City has a population bigger than Newcastle's."

The report claims Longhua's workers live in dormitories that house 100 people, and that visitors from the outside world are not permitted. Workers toil for 15-hours a day to make the iconic music player, the report claims. They earn £27 per month. The report reveals that the iPod nano is made in a five-storey factory (E3) that is secured by police officers.

 

Another factory in Suzhou, Shanghai, makes iPod shuffles. The workers are housed outside the plant, and earn £54 per month - but they must pay for their accommodation and food, "which takes up half their salaries", the report observes.

 

A security guard told the Mail reporters that the iPod shuffle production lines are staffed by women workers because "they are more honest than male workers".

 

The report also explains that the nano contains 400 parts, and that its flash memory is the most expensive component. The report looks at several salient components of the nano, and describes the product as a reflecting the global way business works today. This is because the iPod nano contains parts developed by technology companies from across the planet.

 

Apple is just one of thousands of companies that now use Chinese facilities to manufacture its products, the report observes. Low wages, long hours and China's industrial secrecy make the country attractive to business, particularly as increased competition and consumer expectations force companies to deliver products at attractive prices.

Source: http://www.macworld.co.uk/news/index.cfm?home&NewsID=14915

 

Poor Chinese workers. Poor me.

[catwomanrrr]

Thank heavens I don't own any iPods.

 

It's sad but most executives in the corporate world are corrupt a**es.

[Clari]

[VanMerlin]

There are SO MANY products that take advantage of workers, underpay them, abuse them etc. We don't even know a fraction of what goes on.

 

There's a book I heard of once, which revealed many things like this, even when it came to the harvesting and making of things like coffee and licorice.

 

Sadly, this doesn't surprise me at all.

[Bellamy]

You know how bad they pay me now. I'm working like a slave.

I do own an ipod though.

[catwomanrrr]

What I want to know is, how do these workers feel about their job?

Is this their only way of survival?

[Bellamy]

What I want to know is, how do these workers feel about their job?

Is this their only way of survival?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

most of them are peasants from countryside. we call them peasant workers. they come to big cities to earn money. even that little salary is more than what they could have earn in their hometown.

[Bellamy]

Apple responds to iPod factory claims

 

Apple has issued a statement in response to the Mail On Sunday's claims regarding working conditions within the facilities of some of its Chinese iPod manufacturing partners.

 

"Apple is committed to ensuring that working conditions in our supply chain are safe, workers are treated with respect and dignity, and manufacturing processes are environmentally responsible," the statement explains.

 

The company also explains that it is, "currently investigating the allegations regarding working conditions in the iPod manufacturing plant in China."

 

Apple stresses that: "It does not tolerate any violations of its supplier code of conduct which are posted online."

 

Apple maintains a code of conduct for its suppliers, which it makes available on its website. This code is modelled on and contains language from the Electronic Industry Code of Conduct.

 

"Recognised standards such as International Labour Organisation Standards (ILO), Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR), Social Accountability International (SAI), and the Ethical Trading Initiative (ETI) were used as references in preparing this code," the company says, on its website.

 

The code of contact includes a commitment to uphold the human rights of workers, and covers matters including: discrimination, harsh treatment and harassment, involuntary and child labour, working hours, remuneration and freedom of association.

http://www.macworld.co.uk/news/index.cfm?home&NewsID=14935

[Bellamy]

Foxconn sternly denies iPod sweatshop claims

 

Foxconn Electronics (the registered trade name of Hon Hai Precision Industry) has sternly denied a report insinuating that the company was making iPods for Apple Computer in sweatshops.

 

Edmund Ding, spokesman for Foxconn -- a chief maker of iPods -- said there were huge discrepancies between the truth and the claims in the report, which he said seems like a vicious attack on the company. He added that the company reserves the right to take legal actions over the report.

 

The British newspaper, The Mail on Sunday, last week claimed that iPods were being made in Chinese factories by employees working in "slave" conditions. The paper alleged that one factory at Longhua -- a town just outside the southern Chinese city of Shenzhen -- employed 200,000 workers, each of whom had to work 15 hours a day for a monthly pay of US$50. The paper said the workers lived in rooms which housed 100 people each.

 

However, Ding pointed out that Foxconn has a workforce of only about 160,000 employees worldwide, excluding ones with its handset-making arm Foxconn International Holdings (FIH).

 

He maintained that Foxconn, as an international company, abides by the employment law in China, which stipulates that the minimum wage for a worker in the Shenzhen Special Economic Zone is 810 yuan (US$101) a month, and 700 yuan outside the special economic zone, Ding added.

 

The company also has been actively making improvements to workers' living conditions, providing safe and well-equipped dormitories complete with free laundry service, sports facilities, libraries, and other facilities, the spokesman said.

 

He said Foxconn has been named by the local Shenzhen government as a role model among Taiwan-based investors in the southern Chinese city.

Source: http://www.digitimes.com/systems/a20060619A2007.html

[Bellamy]

Apple has started audit on iPod factory claims

 

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) — Apple Computer said Monday it had begun "a thorough audit" of a Chinese manufacturing plant operated by Foxconn that makes its iPod digital music players after a newspaper report alleged Foxconn treated workers unfairly.

 

"Apple has begun a thorough audit of the manufacturing plant operated by Foxconn in Longhua, China," said Apple spokesman Steve Dowling.

 

The audit will look at "employee working and living conditions, interviews of employees and managers, compliance with overtime and wage regulations, and other areas as necessary to insure adherence to Apple's supplier code of conduct," Dowling said.

 

Apple said it was investigating the report, after the publication on June 11 of an article by the London newspaper Mail stating that workers had to endure shifts of 15 hours per day for about $50 per month.

 

Monday was the first time Apple disclosed the details of the investigation that it said last week was underway.

 

Apple has sold more than 50 million iPods since their introduction in October 2001 and they now account for nearly 50% of Apple's quarterly revenue.

 

For its part, Foxconn has denied any wrongdoing.

 

"Foxconn's employment practices are completely in accordance with the requirements of Shenzhen labor supervision departments and the Shenzhen Labor Supervision Bureau can come to our factory to carry out inspections," Foxconn spokeswoman Miss He was quoted in the Beijing Times' website June 16.

 

Foxconn is the trade name for Hon Hai Precision Industry, which counts among its customers Dell, Hewlett-Packard and others.

 

Shares of Apple fell 36 cents, or less than 1 percent, to close at $57.20 on Nasdaq.

Source: http://www.usatoday.com/tech/news/techpoli...e-factory_x.htm

[AllCeline]

That's totally disgusting

 

Bellamy, you work for Apple?

Edited June 20, 2006 at 02:20 AM by AllCeline

[Bellamy]

Bellamy, you work for Apple?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

obviously not. I'm just a slave worker in China.

[Bellamy]

Apple Releases Report on iPod Sweatshop Factory Conditions

 

If you recall, in June Apple was under fire about allegations that their manufacturing facilities in China are working under sweatshop-like conditions. They launched a full-blown investigation into the matter and released their report yesterday. The findings: the Apple manufacturing facilities are a good place to work.

 

The audit found no underage workers, many requests for overtime and also found that all employees received at least local minimum wage, while at least half received over that. The most interesting finding is that the facilities offer dormitories for employees to live in, rent-free, along with recreation facilities, cafeterias, lounges, Internet cafes, a post office, a hospital, a supermarket and even a freaking swimming pool. Sounds like a pretty good place to work, in China at least.

http://www.apple.com/hotnews/ipodreport/

 

[Tal]

Bellamy, what do you do?

[Bellamy]

I'm a poor sweaty cheap labour in China.

[kathyc25]

I own an ipod

[Bellamy]

I own one too. Don't worry, I'm not blaming iPod users.